Nike releases Back to the Future-style self-lacing shoes

Nike has launched self-fastening shows, complete with tiny electric motors that tighten and loosen the laces.

A sensor in the heel is activated when you step into the shoe, and control buttons on the side of the shoe allow you to adjust the fit even further. Nike designer Tinker Hatfield: “Wouldn’t it be great if a shoe, in the future, could sense when you needed to have it tighter or looser?” said Hatfield. “Could it take you even tighter than you’d normally go if it senses you really need extra snugness in a quick maneuver? That’s where we’re headed. In the future, product will come alive.”

Which is lovely and all, but dare we risk sounding like old people and ask: ‘What happens when they get wet?’